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British Sugar will be swapping tomato plants for cannabis seedlings after signing a long-term contract to supply the crop to drugs company GW Pharmaceuticals.

The marijuana plants, which are of a non-psychoactive variety, will be grown in British Sugar’s 18-hectare glasshouse in Wissington, Norfolk, where the company, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, is currently cultivating tomatoes. The space is the equivalent of 23 football pitches.

“Every year we try to work out the best commercial assets for the glasshouse,” said Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar.

So long tomatoes

“We had always been interested in looking at pharmaceutical crops but never quite found the right partner. We recently...